Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

— Rob —
Rafa dodged the kick with a sidestep and made a show of rolling her eyes. With a tired sigh, she gripped Léon's calf and tugged on it with enough strength to make him lose his balance.
He fell down again.
Léon clicked his tongue and huffed, pushing his bangs from his eyes.
"Is this really all you can do?" she asked. There was a tinge of pain in her voice—something like fear and desperation mixed together. "That's not even fun anymore, Léon."
Dirt and grass already covered Léon's clothes, and a large bruise was starting to show on his right arm; his palms were red and coated with scratches, his right knee was bleeding, and now his eyes were welling up. Rob moved in to help him up, but Rafa stopped him with a glare.
"Goddess, that's frustrating. C'mon, Léon, on your feet!" she growled.
Léon looked aside and lowered his head.
Rafa let out a laugh drenched in disbelief. "I said I couldn't fight normal bandits, but if they're sluggish like you, I think I can take down a dozen or two."
"Harsh," Phillip mumbled. "Calm down, partner."
"Zip it, cowboy. He needs to show he wants this, all right? I'm not here to coddle a grown-ass man. Never did, never will." She balled her hands and furrowed her eyebrows, eyes set on Léon. "The least you could do is to tell me what's happening with you, mate. You're not even trying—and I've heard enough about you to know that's not who you are."
"Not who I am?" Léon echoed in a low voice. "You don't know who I am! I'm not a melee fighter, okay?"
"Uh. Yes, you are?" Phillip said. "We used to practice together, Leo. You were good in close quarters—and I swear I'm not making sexual jokes right now."
Léon huffed. "No, Phillip. That was before. Now I fight using my powers, but I lost them. All right? There's nothing I can fucking do, got it?" It was so strange to see him edgy like this; Léon was always so composed and calm.
Rafa covered her lips with a hand and did nothing but stare at Léon for a solid minute, and Rob understood the frustration. Léon wasn't like this. Léon was brave and powerful; he was a hero.
"Can't you just... I don't know, teach him to use his powers, Rafa?" Phillip said. "Channel the Cosmic trace or whatever bullshit he needs? With... I don't know. Meditation, yoga, mushroom tea?"
"I could teach him Samba and he could still refuse to dance it if he didn't feel like it. I just don't want to waste energy in this if Léon doesn't want to make an effort."
"I am making an effort!" Léon snapped back. "But you can't expect me to be like before; I lost my powers, remember? More than half of them!"
"Or so you keep saying." Rafa shook her head. "That's an excuse, mate."
"It's not. I'm trying and I'm putting in the effort, but as you can see—"
"I see nothing."
"As you can see," Léon insisted, "I'm just not powerful anymore."
Rafa stared at him and waited.
"I'm telling the truth!" Léon said.
"Okay. You have half the powers of a cosmic trace wielder." Rafa shrugged. "Show them to me."
"What? But—"
"Show them to me! Show me what you can do. Anhangá mentioned claws; let me see them."
Léon crossed his arms. "You can't be serious, Rafaela."
"This is how I learned, all right?" She ran a hand through her short locks and sighed. "You first show me your powers; you show me you can still call upon your connection to the cosmic trace. I'll feel how strong that connection is, then I can evaluate what needs to be done. Understand? There's nothing I can do for you if you don't show me how much control you have. You need to want this, mate."
"Well, I do!"
"Then please show me your bloody powers! I felt them when we were in your undimension, and they are waning. You need to do something now, so you won't lose your companions."
Léon balled his hands and bit down hard on his lower lip.
"Do you want this or not, Léon?" she asked—her voice was even harder this time. "Will you watch Bonee die? Huh?" She strode closer and crouched, stopping inches away from Léon. Rafa stuck her index finger out and gave a hard poke on his chest. "Cause she is gonna die, and her blood will be in your hands."
Shite.
Rob knew his sister was furious, but not enough to regress to this state. She was trying to push Léon in the same way Brash had pushed them since childhood. She was tugging at Léon's guilt, shame, and anger... like Brash. Rob licked his lips. Something upturned in his stomach and he had to sit down again. He knew how hard Rafa had been trying to be patient and to control herself—even in Cidade Santa—but she didn't know any other way to reach him, did she?
She saw herself in Léon, didn't she?
"Get. Up!" Rafa shouted.
Oh boy, something was wrong with Léon. His expression twisted and his cheeks grew dark as he dug his fingers in the earth. The air around them grew cold, and Léon's locks danced in a breeze that didn't exist.
"Remembering something, bitter boy?" Anhangá asked in a whisper. His hot breath against Rob's ears made the hairs on his arms stand on end. There was a sly smile on Anhangá's lips and a wicked fun in his eyes. "You know what happens now, don't you? I showed it to you, didn't I?"
Rob widened his eyes.
The memory was pretty clear in his mind; the way Anhangá had awoken the fury inside him and how his tattoos grew red. He didn't know what could happen to Léon if he ever used his powers in that manner—all he knew was that he couldn't let Rafa use Brash's teaching methods on Léon. Not if Rob wanted his man to have a healthy relationship with his powers.
He didn't want Léon to become Toni.
"I remember," Rob answered. He forced his shaky legs to haul him up. "And I need to stop this."
"I asked you—" Rafa began. She didn't finish her sentence; Rob placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.
"You're not him." Rob let his eyes rest on hers. "We are not him," he repeated, this time in an even lower voice.
Rafa reeled a step. She looked at Léon, then back at Rob.
He tried to assure her, but it all happened so fast. In one moment, Rob was looking at his sister, and in the other, she was pushing him aside. Rob fell hard on the floor and looked up to see the moment Léon charged against her, raising his scythe. Rafa threw her arms up as she often did while they were still fighting bandits in New Continent—and to Rob's surprise, dark-orange crystals sprouted from them.
Léon's dark-purple blade met Rafa's crystal-covered arms with a high-pitched screech, like nails on a chalkboard. The grima made Rob's shoulders tremble.
"Léon, stop," Rob said.
"No. She wanted to see my powers. I'm gonna show them!" The scythe went up again and cut left with so much violence, the air created by the attack hit Rafa's defense like a hammer, cracking the crystals on her arms. Cuts opened on Rafa's cheeks and chest.
"Finally," Rafa mumbled with a wide smile; her voice trembled as she jumped backward and readied herself for another blow, trails of blood trickling down her cheeks.
"Léon, stop!"
He wasn't listening. Léon rotated the scythe above his head and stopped it with both hands. He flexed his muscles as his lips went up in a growl, showing white, pointy canines—he definitely looked like a tiger now, wild and dangerous.
"Léon!"
He bashed the scythe on the floor; it quaked.
Rob jumped to his feet and rushed forward. "Léon, please. Please stop!" His arms circled and pulled Léon's body to him, gluing his back to Rob's chest. It was almost as if he refused to hear him.
And bloody hell, he felt so cold!
"Please, Tiger," Rob whispered. "Please. Take a deep breath, lover."
The leaves in the trees danced and darkened as if the Lifeforce was being sucked from them. This was exactly what had happened to Rob, but on a much larger scale—Léon didn't have enough power to do what his angered self wanted, so he was stealing Lifeforce from the forest.
This is what Iara had told them about, all those years ago. This is what Toni used to do to people.
Rob shivered; Léon was rigid in his arms. The quake intensified and his weapon's snath pierced the earth, sending a wave of pure energy all around them. Rob's arms tightened around Léon; his lips met the side of his face.
"Please, Léon," Rob whispered against his temple. "Please don't lose control."
The quake decreased to a full stop, as quick as it started. When the oppressive aura in the forest dissipated, Léon's knees lost strength. Rob caught him and locked him in his arms before Léon could hit the floor. He sighed in relief and raised a hand to Léon's face, turning it to the side so his lips could meet his wet cheeks.
"I almost lost it again," Léon whispered.
"I know. I'm sorry."
Léon licked his lips and looked to the side. The crystal feathers on Rafa's arms cracked and crumbled, showing her widened eyes. Léon found his balance again. With a hand, he nuzzled Rob backward to stand on his two feet.
"You can't teach my brother like that, Rafa; he's a child." Léon's voice was so leveled and controlled, one would never imagine what had happened moments ago.
"That's why I asked for your help." Rafa crossed her arms; the blood on her face and chest didn't seem to worry her. "I don't know another way to teach you; this is how I learned it."
"Who taught you to be this much of a fucker?" Phillip asked.
Rob glared at him. He had almost forgotten Phillip was there with them.
"Brash." Rafa touched her cheek and stared at the blood on her fingers. "He used to train Rob and I like this every day."
Léon grimaced.
"Huh. No wonder he's like this," Phillip mumbled, sticking a thumb out to point at Rob. Phillip got up from his seat and walked up to Rafa. With a gesture, he asked her to look this way and that. With narrowed eyes and a hand on his chin, he studied her wounds. "Seems to be superficial. Can you take care of them?"
"Yeah."
Phillip nodded. "And what's with you two and The Mayor, anyway? He's a druid, not a cosmic trace wielder." He looked at Rafa. "Why the hell did you think he'd be a good trainer for you?"
"I was six, Phillip." She fished in her pockets for her handkerchief. "I didn't have much of a saying in the matter. Besides, I didn't train only with Brash. Toni and I were close too. We told each other our discoveries about the cosmic trace, and we shared the burden. In the beginning, I mean. When Toni's mind started to crack, we didn't train together anymore. Not after what he did."
"And what he did is what really matters here, isn't it?" came Anhangá's voice. He crossed the rim of trees and walked to Rafaela. He carried a box of first aid in one arm and a jug of water in another. "I thought you might need these." He placed the box and the jug down, then made a show of gesturing to himself. "And all this, too."
Rafa smiled and shook her head. She poured water onto her handkerchief and was about to press it against her cheeks when Anhangá took it from her hands.
"Sit," he said. Anhangá waited until Rafa obeyed him, then stood in front of her, cleaning her wounds. "Now go on, dear girl."
"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled.
Rob sneaked a hand across Léon's back and guided him to another tree trunk. Like Anhangá was doing for Rafa, he started treating Léon's wounds.
Rafa lowered her eyes, and her entire demeanor changed. She pulled her knees together, locking her hands between them like a scared teenager.
"I can tell them if you want me to," Rob said in a low voice.
She shook her head and took a deep breath. "I can do this. It... it started when I was eighteen, I guess. Rob was seventeen."
"One year before Brash tried to force me into the League, then," Léon said. "One year before Rob betrayed me."
Rob's cheeks burned. He avoided Léon's gaze, focusing his attention on the cut on Léon's knee.
"Yeah." Rafa cleared her throat. "Thinking about it now, I suppose Brash was already losing control by then. Toni had been talking about this great Evil approaching and how we'd all need to get stronger to fight it. He seemed serious about it, and we all believed him for a time—and that's why I agreed to try this barmy technique Toni was developing."
"How could you trust that piece of shit?" Phillip said in a low voice. "He was out of his mind."
"We grew up together, Phillip. Toni wasn't always like that, he..." She scratched her nape and sighed. "All right. First, you need to learn more about Toni, cause he wasn't always the monster he grew to become. Toni and I? We were friends. We were real friends."